About Me

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Hi! I'm Eunice and I live in Bolton, Lancashire, with my two dogs Sophie and Sugar and an assortment of cats - well it used to be Sophie and Sugar, now it's Sophie and Poppie. I first began camping back in 1997 when my then partner took me to Anglesey for my birthday weekend. We slept in the back of the car - a hatchback - using the cushions off the settee at home as a mattress, and cooked and brewed up on a single burner camping stove. The site was good, the views were great, the weather fantastic and I was completely hooked. Following that weekend we got a two-man tent and some proper accessories and returned to Anglesey two weeks later, then over time we progressed to a three-man tent followed by an old trailer tent, then a new trailer tent, a campervan and finally a caravan. When my partner decided that the grass was greener on the other side of the street - literally - in April 2009 and I suddenly found myself alone after fifteen years, I decided there was no way I was going to give up camping and caravanning if I could cope on my own. This blog is the story of my travels, trials and tribulations since becoming a solo camper - I hope you like it

Friday July 14th 2017 - A rainy day and Red Wharf Bay

The lovely weather of the last couple of days was non-existent when I woke that morning - it was grey, raining and windy, and not very nice at all. My plans for the day had been well and truly scuppered so I spent the morning watching a dvd then towards lunch time I drove over to Llangefni to get some supplies from Asda for the dogs. 

On the road into the town, and just round the corner from the supermarket, is an independent convenience store with a car park at the front and that's where I saw one of the oddest things I've seen in a while. In the corner of the car park, and nearest to the road, was an outdoor 'launderette' - two huge washing machines and a tumble dryer specially for doing duvets, pillows and throws. I've never seen anything like that before, and it must be a recent innovation as it wasn't there last year; it was so bizarre that once I'd parked the van at Asda I walked back round the corner and snapped a couple of photos of it.


Before I went into Asda I went to have a look in the nearby camping shop; I didn't think they sold tents but it was worth having a look. I was right, there wasn't a tent to be seen anywhere in the shop, it was accessories only, so I went back across the road to Asda, then with the shopping done I drove back to the camp site and spent a relaxing afternoon with my book. The rain eventually stopped, the clouds started clearing and the sun finally came out, making the late afternoon quite pleasant, so just to stop the day from being completely wasted I drove the couple of miles to Red Wharf Bay to walk the dogs and get a handful of shots. 


Back at the camp site again I re-connected everything to the electric supply, made a meal for myself and fed the dogs then settled in to watch a bit of tv. After five days I'd got used to living in the van, although I'd much rather be in a proper tent; hopefully it wouldn't be too long before I got a new one but until then I would just enjoy being a bit of a nomad.



10 comments:

  1. I've never seen the like of the outdoors duvet wash before but what a good idea. I threw a thick duvet away when I put the summer weight on the bed. So it would have been £10 to wash and dry, I think my new one cost £25. I'd have to think about that, the jury is out :) Shame the weather wasn't good, there is a nice walk in Llangefni called The Dingle. Red Wharf Bay is nice though.
    There is a full page advert in our local paper this week with a title "Home is where you pitch it". It's for a camping and outdoors store called Charlies, Queensferry. They have a website:

    www.charliesdirect.co.uk/

    Not sure if it's any use to you but I thought about you when I saw it :)

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    1. I've just been doing some Googling Eileen, it seems that outdoor launderettes were first launched in the UK two years ago, and the first one in North Wales was installed at a Texaco petrol station in Bangor in January this year. I like the idea of the Llangefni one being where it is - stick your washing in then nip round the corner and do your shopping in Asda. Brilliant idea :)

      I went through The Dingle the year before last, right up to the Cefni reservoir, but to me that sort of walk is better in sunny weather.

      Thanks for the link to Charlies, I've checked it out and unfortunately they don't have anything suitable within my budget. I'll keep looking, I'm bound to get what I want from somewhere sooner or later.

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  2. Tigermouse, I am really enjoying your travels and my those pics say it all. How wonderful it is to go to all these places, and wonderful for us readers to enjoy also.
    Have a lovely week-end.

    Yvonne.

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    1. Glad you're enjoying my travels Yvonne, have a great weekend yourself :)

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  3. There is one of those launderettes in the car park of the Morrisons I take my Mum too. I've only once seen anyone using it. There was also a dog wash to start with but I never saw any dogs in it, and it's now gone.

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    1. My daft sense of humour has just come up with a great idea - a '2 for 1' promotion. Stick your dog in with the washing and save the cost of the dog wash :) :) Seriously though, the one I photographed is the first one I've ever seen, in fact up till then I didn't even know such things existed.

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  4. That outdoor launderette is amazing. Should be more of them. Perhaps programmed to send you a text message when the load is finished? With a nice cafe and library near by... maybe an idea I need to pitch to the Dragons' Den 😄

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  5. According to what I found out when I googled them earlier, it seems they tell you exactly what time your load will finish, presumably when you put your money in. At least you can go and do the shopping/nip back home for a brew etc and know when you need to go back for your stuff. The library nearest to these is a ten minute walk away but there are two or three cafes close by :)

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  6. Spooky or coincidence? A few minutes after reading your post I looked at Frugal Queen's blog:
    https://frugalqueen.co.uk/2017/07/30/busy-doing-nothing/

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  7. I don't believe in spooks so it must be a coincidence :) I don't know how many there are in this country but I thinks it's a great, if rather unusual, idea :)

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